Anke Loh

Join our trip to Peru to discover a unique experience while gaining insight into South America's large tradition of textile crafts as well as other artistic practices. In addition to our in-depth study of textiles, we will also concentrate on art as a catalyst for intercultural exchange, focusing on the rich vibrant indigenous Quechuan communities of the Peruvian Highlands. During the course students will have a series of practicums focusing on backstrap weaving, service projects, ritualistic ceremonies, and interactions with local indigenous communities, as we will embrace cultural tourism as a means of inter-cultural exchange through our social interactions. Another focus is the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites located in the Sacred Valley, with a visit to Machu Picchu as a highlight.

Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation.
Readings, lectures and screenings will vary.

Example of suggested readings:
Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018
Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017
Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016
Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013

Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester.
Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred.
Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology.

Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation.
Readings, lectures and screenings will vary.

Example of suggested readings:
Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018
Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017
Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016
Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013

Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester.
Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred.
Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology.

Advanced Fashion Studio 1 This two-day (6 credit hour) course aims to help students achieve a high level of professionalism through the design and development of a body of work through collections that emphasize and generate a personal style and a fashion direction. Students will engage conceptual design and creative pattern cutting to develop their collection through refined and distinct garments, and their manufacture. Workshops in advanced techniques augment and expand the fashion vocabulary and potential for their offerings. Students communicate collection concepts utilizing advanced design and research methodologies to back up their creative visions. Students will develop prototypes for their thesis collection, and complete a minimum of five directional garments in the fall. Pre-req FASH 3900.

Advanced Fashion Studio 2 This two-day (6 credit hour) course aims to help students achieve a high level of professionalism through the design and development of collections that both emphasize and generate a personal style and a fashion direction. Building on the fall semester, students will plan and execute an editorial photoshoot of one look concurrent to the completion of a collection of garments to be shown during the spring fashion runway show. Pre-req FASH 4001.

Students develop conceptual and experimental research for innovative approaches in fashion design, as well as their skill set. They develop fashion figures, study proportions and flats, and engage research and development for shapes, details, silhouettes, and groupings. Cloth is studied as a medium; its structural characteristics and the potential for experimentation as it applies to design is investigated. Visualizing their research through journals, sketching, and collages students foster a personal direction and aesthetic in their design approach. These original concepts are translated to clothing through color story, shape, silhouette, and details, and designed into fashion collections.

(In this co-taught studio), students are combining the conceptual and functional principles as they build full silhouettes as prototypes for a capsule mini-collection they have designed. The principles of shape, balance and proportion of the garment are emphasized as students adapt a silhouette from original design sketch to cloth. Through muslin- fittings on a fashion model, students clarify shape, details, volume, and finishes to complete looks through fully materialized garments.